Gasoline prices waver, crude falls

Gasoline prices, which had fallen a bit over the weekend in Philadelphia, rose by a penny overnight, on average, to $3.12 a gallon in southeastern Pennsylvania, AAA Mid-Atlantic said this morning.

The average price in South Jersey held steady at $2.89 a gallon, while the national average fell by a cent, to $3.05 a gallon, the auto club said.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices fell today on speculation that OPEC oil ministers would increase production during a meeting later this week. A new U.S. intelligence report concluding that Iran halted its nuclear weapons development program in 2003 also helped push prices lower.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery was down 92 cents to $88.39 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe. Earlier Tuesday, it rose as high $89.98.

In London, January Brent crude futures fell 28 cents to $89.52 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.